PRESIDENT BUSH: Good morning. It's good to be in Amman. I first
want to thank His Majesty King Abdullah for his gracious hospitality.

Prime Minister Maliki and I just had a very productive meeting.
This is the third time we've met since he took office six months ago,
and with each meeting I'm coming to know him better. He's a strong
leader who wants a free and democratic Iraq to succeed. The United
States is determined to help him achieve that goal.

I told the Prime Minister we're ready to make changes to better
support the unity government of Iraq, and that certain key principles
behind our strategy remain firm and they're fixed. First, we believe
the success of Prime Minister Maliki's government is critical to the
success in Iraq. His government was chosen by the Iraqi people through
free elections in which nearly 12 million people defied terrorists to
cast their ballots. I've told the Prime Minister that our goal in Iraq
is to strengthen his government and to support his efforts to build a
free Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself, and
is an ally in the war against the terrorists.

Secondly, the success of the Iraqi government depends on the
success of the Iraqi security forces. During our meetings, the Prime
Minister and I heard an update from an important group that our
government established last month: the Joint Committee on Accelerating
the Transferring of Security Responsibility. We agreed on the
importance of speeding up the training of Iraqi security forces. Our
goal is to ensure that the Prime Minister has more capable forces under
his control so his government can fight the terrorists and the death
squads, and provide security and stability in his country.

Third, success in Iraq requires a united Iraq where democracy is
preserved, the rule of law prevails, and minority rights are respected.
The Prime Minister made clear that splitting his country into parts, as
some have suggested, is not what the Iraqi people want, and that any
partition of Iraq would only lead to an increase in sectarian violence.
I agree. In the long-term, security in Iraq requires reconciliation
among Iraq's different ethnic and religious communities, something the
overwhelming majority of Iraqis want.

The Prime Minister and I also discussed the review of our strategy
in Iraq that is now nearing completion. I assured the Prime Minister
that our review is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the sovereign
government of Iraq to meet their objectives, which we share. As part of
the review, I've asked our military leaders in the Pentagon and those on
the ground in Iraq to provide their recommendations on the best way
forward.

Others outside the government are conducting their own review, and
I look forward to hearing their recommendations. I want to hear all
advice before I make my decisions about adjustments to our strategy and
tactics in Iraq to help this government succeed.

My consultations with the Prime Minister and the unity government
are a key part of the assessment process. And that's why I appreciate
him coming over from Iraq so that we could have a face-to-face visit.
The Prime Minister and I agree that the outcome in Iraq will affect the
entire region. To stop the extremists from dominating the Middle East,
we must stop the extremists from achieving their goal of dominating
Iraq. If the extremists succeed in Iraq, they will be emboldened in
their efforts to undermine other young democracies in the region, or to
overthrow moderate governments, establish new safe havens, and impose
their hateful ideology on millions. If the Iraqis succeed in
establishing a free nation in the heart of the Middle East, the forces
of freedom and moderation across the region will be emboldened, and the
cause of peace will have new energy and new allies.

Mr. Prime Minister, I want to thank you again for your time. I
appreciate your friendship, and I appreciate the courage you show during
these difficult times as you lead your country.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: (As translated.) Thank you. In the name
of God. In the beginning, I would like to thank King Abdullah for
hosting this meeting. And I would also like to thank the President of
the United States for his response and for the role that he has shown in
dealing most positively with all the files that we've discussed.

And I would like, during this occasion as we leave this
transitional stage, we have won initially when we have accomplished
democracy in Iraq and when we give Iraq the permanent constitution and
the parliament and the unity government. And all these are victories
that are victories with the principles that we believe in. And
therefore, these victories were our decision not to let those who would
like to tamper with the fates of the region, or those who oppose
democracy to win, so that the despotic regime comes back. And Iraq will
never be a safe haven for terrorists who are trying to spread darkness
instead of light, the light that started in Mesopotamia.

We have many visions and many ideas about the transformation
process and we are determined to succeed in the face of all the
challenges that we believe are probably -- should exist in a situation
such as the situation that Iraq is going through. These are not
outrageous challenges. There are criminals, there are people who are
breaking the law. But the steel strength of the national unity
government would help us face all those who are breaking the law, or
those who are trying to take down democracy in Iraq, or those who are
conspiring and trying to have coups or basically bring down the national
unity government.

We are active with anybody who are working within the framework of
the constitution. Because we established the constitution, we'll abide
by it, we'll protect it, and we'll be protected by it. We assure
everybody that we are in alliance with the international community in
facing all the challenges that the world is facing. And foremost of
those challenges is terrorism. Terrorism is not a danger only to Iraq,
it's a culture, it's an ideology. The whole civilized world must face
it as one line, one unit. Some people might not understand the
successes that we have as we daily face terrorism in Iraq and as the
security forces in Iraq chase them down, arrest them. This is solid
strength based on our vision, and our vision is that terrorism,
terroristic ideology, extremism, sectarianism are all issues that will
rob humans from happiness.

We are ready to cooperate with everybody who believe that they need
to communicate with the national unity government, especially our
neighbors. Our doors are open, and our desire is strong that between us
and our neighbors, we will have strong relationships based on mutual
respect and staying away from everybody's internal business. Iraq is
for Iraqis, and its borders will be sound and will not allow anybody to
violate these borders or interfere in our internal affairs.

So everybody who is trying to make Iraq their own influences appear
on the account of the Iraqi people needs to recalculate for it will not
happen. And all the political forces in Iraq have agreed on that. They
want to form a very strong political base to support the national unity
government. We have visions in Iraq, and we are at the steps of
transformation into a new stage where we'll have security plans that we
believe will be effective and will deliver what is required.

In Iraq, we don't only deal with terrorism. We're dealing with
building a whole state in all its aspects -- political, economic,
security, militarily -- and all these are signs of maturity that are now
very obvious in Iraq. And we hope that they will be complemented and
supported by the international community and by our neighbors, who I
hope that will be supportive not only for the benefit of Iraq, for the
benefit of those countries, as well.

PRESIDENT BUSH: We will take a couple of questions. Abramowitz.

Q Mr. President, the memo from your National Security Advisor
has raised the possibility the United States should press Prime Minister
Maliki to break with Moqtada al-Sadr. Is this, in fact, your strategy?
And did you raise this issue with the Prime Minister this morning?

And to the Prime Minister, I'd like to ask, the President's Advisor
has said that a central problem in Iraq is your close alliance with Mr.
al-Sadr, and did you make any representations to the President that you
would break with al-Sadr, and could your government survive such a
break?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I will let the Prime Minister talk about his
relations with al-Sadr. I will tell you that he and I spent a lot of
time talking about the security situation inside of Iraq. I expressed
my concern about the security situation; he expressed his concern about
the security situation. After all, one of his most important jobs is to
provide security for the Iraqi people. Part of the Prime Minister's
frustration is, is that he doesn't have the tools necessary to take care
of those who break the law.

I was reassured by his commitment to a pluralistic society that is
politically united, and a society in which people are held to account if
they break the law -- whether those people be criminals, al Qaeda,
militia, whoever.

He discussed with me his political situation, and I think it is
best that he talk to you about the Sadr group or any other group he
wants to talk about inside of Iraq.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: Matter of fact, my coalition is not with
only one entity. The national unity government is a government formed
of all the entities that participated in it. Therefore, that coalition
basically represents a national responsibility.

And Mr. Sadr and the Sadrists are just one component that
participate in the parliament or in the government. And I think
participating in the government is a responsibility and it's a mutual
commitment, and those who participate in this government need to bear
responsibilities. And foremost upon those responsibilities is the
protection of this government, the protection of the constitution, the
protection of the law, not breaking the law.

Therefore, I do not talk about one side at the expense of the
other. I'm talking about a state; I'm talking about law; I'm talking
about commitments. And this should apply to all the partners in the
government who have chosen to participate in the political process.

As to the issues that would pertain to violating the law or
breaking the law, we would deal with them the same way, because the most
important principle is the sovereignty and the power and the
establishment of the state that must be borne by the state, but only our
partners should participate in that.

Q Hezbollah has denied that his forces trained Moqtada al-Sadr
forces, but do you have any information if Hezbollah has actually
trained the forces of Moqtada al-Sadr?

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: I think they expressed itself and expressed
its responsibilities. And one -- another time I would like to say that
Iraq and all the Iraqis in the political process; nobody has the right,
outside of Iraq, to interfere in the political or the security situation
inside of Iraq. We invite everybody to cooperate with us, but as far as
this issue related to training, Hezbollah denied and they're responsible
for their denial.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Our objective is to help the Maliki government
succeed. And today we discussed how to further the success of this
government. This is a government that is dedicated to pluralism and
rule of law. It's a government elected by the Iraqi people under a
constitution approved by the Iraqi people, which, in itself, is an
unusual event in the Middle East, by the way.

We talked today about accelerating authority to the Prime Minister
so he can do what the Iraqi people expect him to do, and that is bring
security to parts of his country that require firm action. It's going
to -- the presence of the United States will be in Iraq so long as the
government asks us to be in Iraq. This is a sovereign government. I
believe that there is more training to be done. I think the Prime
Minister agrees with me. I know that we're providing a useful addition
to Iraq by chasing down al Qaeda and by securing -- by helping this
country protect itself from al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda wants a safe haven in Iraq. Al Qaeda made it clear
earlier that suicide bombers would increase sectarian violence. That
was part of their strategy. One of our goals is to deny safe haven for
al Qaeda in Iraq, and the Maliki government expects us and wants us to
provide that vital part of security.

So we'll be in Iraq until the job is complete, at the request of a
sovereign government elected by the people. I know there's a lot of
speculation that these reports in Washington mean there's going to be
some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq. We're going to stay in Iraq to
get the job done, so long as the government wants us there.

We want the people of Iraq to live in a free society. It's in our
interests. In my judgment, if we were to leave before the job is done,
it would only embolden terrorists, it would only embolden the
extremists. It would dash the hopes of millions of people who want to
live in a free society, just like the 12 million people who voted in the
Iraqi election. They want to live in a free society. And we support
this government, because the government understands it was elected by
the people. And Prime Minister Maliki is working hard to overcome the
many obstacles in the way to a peaceful Iraq, and we want to help him.

Let's see -- Martha.

Q Mr. President, is there a time limit on meeting any of these
goals for Prime Minister Maliki? And you keep mentioning that the U.S.
goal is to fight al Qaeda. Does that mean you believe it's up to the
Iraqis to stop the sectarian violence and quell the sectarian violence,
and this is something you don't want U.S. troops involved in?

And Prime Minister Maliki, can you tell us why you canceled the
meeting last night?

PRESIDENT BUSH: What was the first part of your three-part
question? (Laughter.)

Q Time limit on meeting goals. Is there a time limit on meeting
goals?

PRESIDENT BUSH: A time limit. As soon as possible. But I'm
realistic, because I understand how tough it is inside of Iraq. The
Prime Minister is dealing with sectarian violence. The Prime Minister
is having to deal with al Qaeda. The Prime Minister is having to deal
with criminal elements. And we want to help him.

And, yes, I talked about making sure that al Qaeda doesn't take --
doesn't provide -- gets safe haven in Iraq. Sure, that's an important
part of our strategy. But I also have said that the goal is a country
that can defend, sustain, and govern itself. And therefore, to the
extent that our troops are needed to help do that, we're willing to do
that. That's part of the operation in Baghdad. Part of the plan in
Baghdad was to prevent -- prevent killers from taking innocent life.

Q Including sectarian violence?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well that's -- killers taking innocent life is, in
some cases, sectarian. I happen to view it as criminal, as well as
sectarian. I think any time you murder somebody, you're a criminal.
And I believe a just society and a society of -- that holds people to
account and believes in rule of law protects innocent people from
murderers, no matter what their political party is.

And I discussed this with the Prime Minister, and I don't want to
put words in his mouth, but I received a satisfactory answer about the
need to protect innocent life. And that's exactly what our troops have
been doing, along with the Iraqis. My plan, and his plan, is to
accelerate the Iraqis' responsibility. See, here's a man who has been
elected by the people; the people expect him to respond, and he doesn't
have the capacity to respond. And so we want to accelerate that
capacity. We want him to be in the lead in taking the fight against the
enemies of his own country.

And that's exactly what we discussed today. We had a Joint
Committee on Accelerating the Transfer of Security Responsibility
Report. And it was a report that General Casey, who is with us today,
and our Ambassador Zal Khalilzad, who is with us today, as well as the
Prime Minister's team, delivered to both of us about how to accelerate
responsibility to the Iraqi government so this person elected by the
people can take the fight to those who want to destroy a young
democracy.

You had a question --

Q Sir, there are no time limits here?

PRESIDENT BUSH: As quick as possible, Martha. As quick -- I've
been asked about timetables ever since we got into this. All timetables
mean is that it -- it is a timetable for withdrawal. You keep asking me
those questions. All that does is --

Q Mr. President --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Hold on a second. All that does is set people up
for unrealistic expectations. As soon as possible. And today, we made
a step toward as soon as possible by transferring a -- accelerating the
transfer of authorities, military authorities to the Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: I emphasize what the President has just
said, that we have agreed together, and we are very clear together,
about the importance of accelerating the transfer of the security
responsibility. And be assured that the Iraqi forces and the security
forces have reached a good level of competency and efficiency to protect
Iraq as a country and to protect its people.

As far as the other issue related to the meeting, I have met with
King Abdullah, then have met again with his Prime Minister, and a group
of his ministers, and we've discussed bilateral relations that are of
concern to both nations -- Iraq and Jordan -- and that relationship is
based on mutual friendship and being a good host and a good neighbor.
And there was not part of our agenda a trilateral meeting, so there is
no problem.

Please.

Q (As translated.) Did you discuss with the President the
Iranian influence that is expanding in Iraq, and the almost complete
Iranian control over Baghdad, as the press sources seems to indicate? --
did you build this big wall between Iraq and Iranian? So and are you
going to deal with --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Did I -- I didn't understand your first question.

Q To deal with Iranian directly?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Am I going to meet with the Iranians directly, is
that the question?

Q The question of Iraq, yes.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: As far as the first question that was
mentioned by the reporter, I think these are wrong and exaggerated
information, and they are being used as one of the propaganda mechanisms
to give the impression of sectarian strife so that will reach a point of
no return. Because we want to emphasize that we will not allow anybody
to exert their control over any part of Iraq. If there is any talk
about intervention in Iraq and all the discussion, all the talks about
people or other nations exerting control over Iraq, this is not true.
This is a political process in Iraq. We want good relationships with
our neighbors, we want complementary relationships with our neighbors to
protect the region from tensions. But the main principle underlying all
this is the respect of the Iraqi borders and the internal affairs of
Iraq.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I believe the Iranians fear democracy, and that's
why they destabilize Lebanon; that's why they are worried about the
establishment of a Palestinian state.

I appreciate the Prime Minister's views that the Iraqis are plenty
capable of running their own business and they don't need foreign
interference from neighbors that will be destabilizing the country. I
am very worried, as should the world, about Iran's desires to have a
nuclear weapon and, therefore, will continue to work with the world to
send a clear message to the Iranians, the Iranian government, that we
will -- they will become more isolated. And my message to the Iranian
people is we have no beef with the Iranian people. We respect their
heritage, we respect their history, we respect their traditions. I just
have a problem with a government that is isolating its people, denying
its people benefits that could be had from engagement with the world.

I told the Prime Minister, we'll continue to work with the world
community to insist that Iran abandon its nuclear weapons programs. And
I have said that if they were to verifiably suspect their enrichment
program, we would part of the EU3 plus Russia plus China discussions.
They know how to get us to the table. The choice is theirs to make.
It's the choice of the Iranian government as to whether or not they make
the right decisions, for not only the sake of the diplomacy, but for the
sake -- more importantly, for the sake of their people.

We might as well keep going, Prime Minister.

Richard. Please, sir. Please. Thank you.

Q When you were in Baghdad six months ago, you expressed the
same kind of confidence in the Prime Minister and his government that
you've expressed today. Yet there have been repeated rounds of
disappointments when it comes to the Prime Minister's Baghdad Security
Plan, with his plans for reconciliation. I'm wondering, if anything, if
you've had any doubts over the last six months about the strength of his
government, about the Prime Minister's own abilities. And what gives
you such confidence today to think that he can achieve what he hasn't
done over the last six months?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, as you mentioned, he's been in power for six
months, and I've been able to watch a leader emerge. The first thing
that gives me confidence is that he wants responsibility. A sign of
leadership is for somebody to say, I want to be able to have the tools
necessary to protect my people. One of his frustrations with me is that
he believes we've been slow about giving him the tools necessary to
protect the Iraqi people. And today we had a meeting that will
accelerate the capacity for the Prime Minister to do the hard work
necessary to help stop this violence. No question it's a violent
society right now. He knows that better than anybody. He was
explaining to me that occasionally the house in which he lives gets
shelled by terrorists who are trying to frighten him.

And so the second point I make to you is that I appreciate his
courage. You can't lead unless you have courage. And he's got courage,
and he's shown courage over the last six months. Thirdly, he has
expressed a deep desire to unify his country. You hear all kinds of
rumors about the politics inside of Iraq. I'm talking to the man
face-to-face, and he says that he understands that a unified government,
a pluralistic society, is important for success. And he's making hard
decisions to achieve that.

No question it's been tough. It would have been a lot easier had
people not tried to destabilize the young democracy. His job would have
been more simple had there not been terrorists trying to create
sectarian violence.

Now, I want everybody to remember that it was Mr. Zarqawi of al
Qaeda who said, let us bomb Shia in order to create the

conditions necessary for sectarian violence. The Samara bombing started
off this new phase of violence. The Prime Minister comes in about
halfway through that phase in order to -- he'd been selected and now
he's dealing with a serious situation on the ground. And what I
appreciate is his attitude. As opposed to saying, America, you go solve
the problem, we have a Prime Minister who's saying, stop holding me
back, I want to solve the problem.

And the meeting today was to accelerate his capacity to do so.
It's not easy for a military to evolve from ground zero, and I
appreciate our forces, and I appreciate General Casey, who have worked
very hard to train the Iraqis so they become a capable fighting force,
as well as a unifying element for Iraq. But it's one thing to put
people in uniform, and another thing to have clear command structure, or
the capacity to move troops from point A to point B, or the capacity to
make sure that the troop carrier from point A to point B has got the
necessary air in its tires or oil in its engine. In other words, this
is a sophisticated operation to get a unifying army stood up.

And one of the reasons I appreciate the Prime Minister is that he,
on the one hand, sees that it's a sophisticated operation to get a
military up from zero, but on the other hand, is frustrated by the pace.
And the reason why he's frustrated is because he wants to show the
people who elected him that he is willing to take the hard tasks on
necessary to provide security for the Iraqi people, such as hunting down
those who are killing the innocent. And the reason I came today to be
able to sit down with him is to hear the joint plans developed between
the Iraqi government, the sovereign government of Iraq, and our
government, to make sure that we accelerate the transfer of capacity to
the Prime Minister. And I know he's looking forward to more capacity
being transferred so he can do his job.

Anyway, he's the right guy for Iraq, and we're going to help him,
and it's in our interest to help him, for the sake of peace.

Q Mr. President -- what is your -- Prime Minister Olmert and
President Abu Mazen to keep this cease-fire agreement? And what should
be done --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first of all, there's no question that if we
were able to settle the Palestinian-Israeli issue, it would help bring
more peace to the Middle East. And therefore, our government is focused
on helping develop the two-state solution. As a matter of fact, I was
the -- our government strongly believes in the two-state solution, and I
believe it's in the Palestinian people's interest that they have their
own state. And I believe it's in Israel's interest that there be a
democracy on her border. And therefore, we're working to that end.

Look, there are extremists who want to stop the development of a
Palestinian state, just like there are extremists who want to
destabilize Lebanon -- and we're strongly in support of the Siniora
government -- just like there are extremists who want to destabilize
this young democracy. Isn't it interesting that the radicals and
extremists fear democracy so much that they're willing to kill innocent
people? And the task at hand is to support moderate, reasonable people
in their quest for free societies. And that means that Abu Mazen, who I
believe wants there to be a Palestinian state living side-by-side with
peace in Israel, deserves the support of the world. And he deserves
support in peeling his government away from those who do not recognize
Israel's right to exist.

And therefore, Condoleezza Rice will be going to talk to Abu Mazen
tomorrow, as well as Prime Minister Olmert, working with both parties
together to see how we can advance the vision that the Prime Minister
himself talked about earlier this week.

Q And your advice to both of them?

PRESIDENT BUSH: My advice is, support reasonable people and reject
extremists. Understand that most people want to live in peace and
harmony and security. It's very important for the American people to
understand that most Muslim mothers want their children to grow up in
peace, and they're interested in peace. And it's in our interest to
help liberty prevail in the Middle East, starting with Iraq.

And that's why this business about graceful exit just simply has no
realism to it at all. We're going to help this government. And I'm
able to say that it is -- that we have a government that wants our help
and is becoming more capable about taking the lead in the fight to
protect their own country. The only way that Iraq is going to be able
to succeed is when the Iraqis, led by a capable person, says, we're
tired of it, we don't want violence, we want the peace that our 12
million people voted for. And it's in the world's interest that Iraq
succeed.

Mr. Prime Minister, you want to answer some more questions?
(Laughter.) Go ahead. Hold on for a minute. Wait, wait, wait.

PRIME MINISTER MALIKI: We said six question, now this is the
seventh -- this is the eighth -- eight questions.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, this guy?

Q (As translated.) Mr. President, in light of the war that the
United States is fighting against terror in Iraq, what has been
accomplished? What do you expect to be accomplished after a three-year
confrontation?

Another question -- other people are accusing the United States of
bringing terrorism to Iraq, and the proof is that what's going on in
Iraq and what's going on in Afghanistan. And the biggest loser is the
Iraqi citizen.

PRESIDENT BUSH: It's an interesting analysis: the biggest loser
for a free society is the Iraqi citizen when this society was just
liberated from the grips of a brutal tyrant that killed thousands and
thousands of the Iraqi citizens.

What has been accomplished is the liberation of a country from a
tyrant who is now sitting in jail getting a trial that he was unwilling
to give thousands of people he murdered himself, or had murdered.

Secondly, this country has a constitution, which is one of the most
modern constitutions ever written in the Middle East. This is a
government that had been elected by the people. No question it's tough.
But the reason why terrorists are trying to stop the advance of freedom
in Iraq is the very reason why we need to help them, because they can't
stand democracies and they want to impose a hateful vision on as much of
the world as possible. They want safe haven from which to launch
attacks again. A safe haven in Iraq, a country that has got a lot of
resources, would be very dangerous for America.

It didn't take but 19 people who were trained in Afghanistan to get
on airplanes and come and kill over 3,000 citizens in my country.
Threats that gather overseas must be taken seriously if we want to
protect ourselves. And the best way to protect ourselves is to hunt
down the terrorists and to help young democracies survive. Freedom and
liberty is the great alternative to the hateful vision of those who are
willing to murder innocent lives to achieve their objective.

And so, you bet it's worth it in Iraq, and necessary. And I was
very proud and pleased to see 12 million Iraqis go to the polls, to be
able to express their desires, their wishes, as they helped put a
government in place that this man now leads.